The United Nations overwhelmingly passed the landmark Arms Trade Treaty earlier this week with the avowed intention of preventing the sale of conventional weapons to countries guilty of human rights abuses and encouraging terrorism.
India, the world’s largest importer of conventional weapons, abstained along with 22 other countries, including Russia and China, arguing the rationale of determining violations lies exclusively with exporting countries which must develop criteria to link exports to rights abuses and other objectionable practices.
India also feared that if the treaty achieves fruition soon, with at least 50 of 193 UN members ratifying it through endorsement in domestic legislation, some contracted imports may be blocked. This is a concern that cannot be easily brushed away.
As Henry Kissinger famously noted, India lives in the world’s toughest neighbourhood. It has two nuclear weapons powers for neighbours, and that indicates the ever-present possibility of conventional arms being foregrounded if diplomacy fails to keep tensions in check. Besides, India has been at the receiving end of foreign-inspired terrorism for a quarter-century.
Interestingly, while sales of arms categories like tanks and armoured vehicles were included within the treaty’s ambit, drones and grenades aren’t explicitly barred. Also, under current language, gifts are not barred, only sales are. This means a country like Pakistan can be gifted weapons systems and receive drones as genuine sales. In the past, weapons transferred to Pakistan by the United States, including those meant to fight domestic terrorism, have been used against India.
If the world’s arms exporters are to decide who the recipients can be, it’s easy to see the determination will be made on political lines that obtain at a given point of time. It is not clear to what extent the $70 billion international arms trade will be reduced once the ATT comes into effect, although it is evident that the major Western powers which are behind this treaty are likely to ensure their international opponents will be prevented from receiving weapons sales. It is for this reason that Iran, Syria and North Korea have voted against.
Although Washington strongly backed the UN vote, it is not clear that the US Senate will ratify the ATT. Republicans influenced by the National Rifle Association have threatened not to, though the treaty has no bearing on the right to carry arms for self-defence within America. Really speaking, the US and other key powers may want their hand to be unfettered in backing armed factions in a country while denying arms exports to the government of that country.